Non-interfering key.



`C. H. SMITH.

NON-INTERFERING KEY.

APPucATloN FILED JUNE v9, 1913.

figg HTZZ'Z C. H. SMITH.

NON-INTERFERING KEY.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I9. 1913.

l. .Q7 l 9 378 o Patented July 2, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. H. SMITH.

NON-INTERFERING KEY.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE I9, I9Ia.

Patented July 2, 191s.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Lgf/Ima @NEN/F so seems einem onifios.

ppliosiion med inne E9, wie.

o ai@ whom 5' may ooywem;

Be iff, known ense CHARLES H. Szene, e

eiiizen of the 'United States, residing in Chicago, eouney oi Cook, Seeee of illinois, e have invented een'esin new and useiui iropiovemens in Non -ntefeiing Keys, of Whioii iiie following is a speoiiceeion.

My inveniion relates to switching devises end nos io do more psniouiariy with devises in which s. plui'eiiy oi" switch aetuasing membess are associated into e. unitary seiucioze. in object of my invention is to loroi/ide en efficient sii'iiotuie providing anioinoiie means 'so pievent more than one switch aeuaiing membei- "seing eifeoiiveiy aetuaeei si one iii-e.

Wiiiief have in the eieeiiicei sir/liebes io be tion is sisi dmwings indicated opeieeed, my iin/en-s niy noe iigeited therese, but any switching pnwose, to oonve sys-ein for ezsmoie, on any eines e infiios'feing snol non. Lenfe'iingg iesiff :fes lesiieei end. eeoonfl2 s., eend ci e; nis l' do neiI niysei ii-,o siesy peieieeie swieeiiing method.

. ne l is s. pien View oi? one embodieene oi? my inveniion. l

2 is s Sessional view on the line 2, 2,

is s sessions?. View on the iin-s 3, 3,

seoiionei View on the iine fi,

seeiionei View sloeg the une `s. perspeoove View oi one of 'the `los. gf 7 iss. sectional View oniine 7', "i, of snowing messed oie fastening springs. 8 is s. seeiionsi View on line 8, 8 of i, showing position oi actuating vmeniin ieeiion with the neiesse pisse end i senin.

Fig. 9 is s pien view of snot? eneinbocii.- nient of inveneion.

i is e s-eoisionei View on fue line i0, l0 o3? Fig. Fig. ii 's e seosionsi View on the line il, .il of MP. @e Fig. i2 is s. seoiionsi View on ibi/ie line i2,

i2 of io. 5@

Fig. i3 is s seotioneiview on she iine 13,13 of Fig. li).

Fig. li is e sections- View on line 14, 14

peeieecion oi" Lest-ere Estone.

D, E, and F are Pes-ense@ Jiiiiy 2, seres se.

of Fig. 9, showing Hoe portion of the estuaiing member in reieion with the non-interiering means.

Fig. i5 is e side elevation of another embodiment of my invenion.

Fig. i6 is e. seotionsi View along line lo, l@ of Fig. i5.

Fig. i? shows the key of i5 with one of iis actuating members moved '53o en effective position.

Fig. i8 shows two se'tusting members o'- che device oi Fig. i5 simuitsneousiy depiessed but Wiihoui, eifeesive opeieiion.

Fig. i9 is e perspeoiive View of one oi ehe looking members es embodied in l5.

.Referring now to 8, easing i nos e. eupesiened eo it in any suitbased membei 2' soie mennen A eeniiei sisf. 3 ez'iends iiirouge cup 2, 123s owen en "eiiefl 'ehe es ei' end cove i,

sing l end iss u ne looking s'ifips e one 2 es siioiiff eensions 51 over l it 3. shaft 3 sois es e. pivot ene-und which eine le-cking strips rotaie in tiie limites movement. seni-ps 5 serve es blessing snifeee nesoiing springs 6, elle einer ends rings 6 being fastened to pins 7 dni-fen in o *die oop 2. The concave incienefeions 5 in strips 5 sie so posiiioneoi the@ when looking sti'ips ere isdiaily disposed in e cup member 9.., said concave indentetions 5 on sdjaeen; strips 5, match and form ellipticsi openings.A

A number of eetueiing membeis A, E, C, provided, oompi'ising each e plunger nod 8 which ness-es through e bearing 9, seid bearing seislng as s guide. A einziger rod 8 has an integral eem i0 adepted so beffooed down into its associated eiip- 'sicsi'opening 5F formed by locking stiips 5. Rod 8 hosen' insulating button il resiing against its indiviciuei spring eonesoi 18. The actuating member E" isin she formv of a plunger rod but ehe rod has no oem ntegrs with it.' memiier may be This actuating depressed, bei'. when the pressure is released the key plunges is restored to nomei by iso my invention as illus- Tne oblong openings 53 in rIhe re ease plate 12 rotatesabout the s aft "3 Ain its limlted movement-and has a plurality of chamfered holes 13, one for each key plunger, and the rest against the cams v10 ot the shafts 8. he restoring spring 14 for plate l2 is provided asshown.

of the casing 1. A common circular contact 17 has projections 171 for the individual contacts 18. The latter are 'suitably insulated electrically and act as restoring springs for the key plungers with'v which they are respectively associated. The terminals of the common contactv and of the individual contacts extend inwardly and the wiring is brought through holes 19 in the bottom ot casing l. The pins 21 are driven into the bottom oithel cup-shaped member 2 and limit the movement of the locking strips 5.

Having described in detail the construcagainst the tension .ot the restoring spring 14. When the lupper' or locking surface of the cam comes below the release plate l2, the said plate is moved back by the spring 14 to its locking position. -As the plunger is de rmed the cam 10'- is movedvinto the elliptical opening formed by two of the locking" strips 5 forcing them apart against the tension ofthe springs 6 and thereafter the lunger 6 operates its spring contact 18 to c ose an electrical circuit.v

Ae now that another key say D, is

depressed, :while C is down, the starting of the downward -implement of the cam 10 o `the plungerrod of D moves the release plate 12 in the dlrection ot the arrow and when the locking surfaceof the cam is positioned in the chamtered hole of the release plate of the plunger of C that was in locking' position is insuch position that the cam 10 ot C passes throughv its chamfercd hole ot y the release plate and the plunger ot C is resto to normal by means of the individual contact spring 18, while the plunger of D is further depressed, is locked down and actuatesl its spring.

Now assume that two key plungers are sunultaneouslfA depr their two cams 10 move downwardly into their respective elliptical open v fed bythe locking strips nemers little way the spacing of the parts is such that they cannot under the circumstances indicated descend far enough to actuate the vcontact;springs. I

The spring contact set associated with each key plunger 8 -is located in the bottom Figs. 9 to 14.

Referring now to Figs. 9 to 14, inclusive, the arts thereof corresponding to parts of the rst form of my invention are indicated by like reference characters.y ln the device as illustrated in Figs. 9 to 14, inclusive, the actuating members A, B, C, l), E and F of Fig. 9 are similar to those shown in F ig.

1, but the non-interfering featureI is con' trolled by balls resting in a circular channel shaped member. The device includes a casing 1 and a central shaft 3 having its lower ond `fastened to the casing 1 and its upper end in the cover 4l. Thecircular channel 22 is I' with the shaft 3 and I employ s pluriay er sans a, a1, b, b1, 0, a, d, a1

and e, e1 disposed in the circular channelshown in Fig. 12. "llhe actuating memas bers A, B, C, D and E are non-interfering but the member F is not, as the said member can be depressed to operate its spring cont tacts and when the pressure is released restorm to normal as no locking balls are associated with its plunger. Balls a, a1 are associated with the actuating member A, b and b1 are associated with B. etc. The locking balls a and e are hemispherical in shape and` may have rectangular extensions fitting slidingly into the circular channel to main- -tain their proper positions. Their fiat ends have holes to receive springs 23, the -other ends of the springs fitting into blocks24, held in place in any suitable manner. .The spring 23 ores the balls when a key is released. The stops 25 limit the movementf of the ballato the right or left.

` 26 keeps the balls in the channel. The ac- -tuating members A, B, C, D, and E are pro- A cover vided with plunger rods 8, which pass through the bearing 9. The plunger rods 4S have cams 10 which operate in connection'- with the common release plate 12. Each plungerrod 'also carries its angular extension 27 extending beyond the circular cha-nnel and downwardly toward the contact springs to' be actuated. The plungerl rod prever has its lower end tapered and exten s downv through' the cover of thefcircular channel. This taperedend is forced down in between the two locking balls when the plunger ,is depressed. A. common release plate 121e that is is prolid liti

three other lockiner strips Ito the right a ainst the other stop. v hus 1t will be seen t at if another plunger is depressed the pin will engage the angular cam surface and no eiective operation will be obtained. As the pressure is released the actuating member is forced back 'by the spring 43, the upper or loch'ng surface of the cam 47 resting against the bottom of the release strip 44 in an indicating position.

Assuming now that anotherv key is depressed the starting of the downward :movement of the cam 47 of the plun er rod moyes the release plate 44 and w en the locking surface of the cam 47 is ositioned in the chamfered hole of the re ease strip the cam 47 et the other plunger passes through the chamfered hole of the release plate that is associated with it and the said plun er is restored to normal by its spring f two key plungers are simultaneously 43. depressed the pins 52 are moved downwardly and engage the cam surfaces 481, 48Z of the'locking plate 48 shown in Fig. 18 and further pressure will not cause the plungers to actuate their respective circuit springs 37--38 since stops 53-53 are so spaced as not to admit of two pins 52 simultaneously dscending between their respective locking p ates.

As before stated, l do not limit my claims to electrical switching means, as m invention resides rather in the correlation of a plurality of movable devices with their associated indicating and interference preventing mechanisms.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A switching device including aplura ity of circularly disposed plungers, supporting mechanism for' said plungers whereby* they may bev manually reciprocated, a con-I tact spring controlled by each or said plungers, said contact springs forming means for restoring said plun ers, a' pivotally secured circular plate provi ed with orifices adapted to receive said plungers, said plate bein adapted to hold an actuated one of sai plungers and to release a reviousl depressed plunger, and a lura ity of pivoted sectors circumposed ar out their pivoted point and lying in a plane at right angles to the lineof movement of said plungers for coperation with said plungers to prevent ing the line of movement o harness a simultaneous operation of more-than one of said plungers at one time. j y

2. A switching device of the character described including a supporting frame, a pluralityA of circularly dlsposed reciprocatable plunger-s carried by said frame, contact springs for said lungers for closing electrical circuits and or restoring said plungers, a pivotallysecured circular plate provided with orices adapted to receive enlarged. portions ot said plungers, said plate being adapted to hold an actuated oneIof ,said plungers in its indicating position and to release a previously depressed plunger, a spring for retaining jsaid circular plate in its normal position to thereby hold the actuated plura about their pivoted point and lying in a fplane at right angles to the line of moveactuated it will be lockedby said plate and permit the restoration of any other actuated plunger, a spring formovmg sald plate mto a position to lock sa1d operated plunger, a plurality of related pivotally secured oscillaplunger in its indicating position, a ity of vpivoted sectors circumposed plate coperative with said plungers w ereby when one of said plungers is tory sectors provided with orifices to receive said plungers and lying in a plane intersectsaid plungers and adapted to prevent a simultaneous reciprocation of more than one of said plungers effective upon their contacts, anda plurality of springs for maintaining said sectors in normal position.

Si ed by me at Chica o, county of Cook and tate of Illinois, in t e presence of two 

